Karen joined ExxonMobil in Great Britain in 1990, where she held a range of assignments in Chemical manufacturing and Refining. Following a variety of business positions based in Brussels and Houston, she was appointed vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical’s Adhesion business in 2007. In 2010, she became vice president of Operations for Lubricants & Specialties and subsequently for Fuels, Lubricants & Specialties.
She was appointed executive assistant to ExxonMobil’s chairman in 2013. She became vice president of Basic Chemicals and then senior vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. She was named president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company in 2019 and assumed her current position in April 2022.
Karen is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity and previously chaired both the Downstream and the Chemical Women’s Leadership Teams for executive women in ExxonMobil, and currently sponsors the Asian Connection for Excellence (ACE) organization. She is an active champion of community support and engagement, leading several ExxonMobil giving campaigns that generated millions in donations to critical community support organizations.
Karen holds a number of industry leadership positions. She served as a member of the board and the executive committee of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Society of Chemical Industry. She chairs the board of the American Chemistry Council and the board the International Council of Chemical Associations.
Karen was born in Northern Ireland and has a master’s degree in chemical engineering from The University of Nottingham, England. She and her husband Mark, also an ExxonMobil employee, have two daughters.